


Teach Me How to Feel Again

by VasilisaTheAngel



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Blackmail, Brainwashing, Dad Reaper, F/F, F/M, Family time, Fluff, I love him being everyone's dad, I suppose, More tags to be added, PTSD symptoms, Reaper is too old for this, Slice of Life, Sombra's a little shit, Talon - Freeform, Team Talon Family, Widowmaker is tired of Sombra's scheming, bad horror films, but she means well, but they're not a focus, emotion, i guess, ish, learning how to feel, more characters as well maybe, relationship drama, sombra is trying her hardest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-11-19 07:48:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11308923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VasilisaTheAngel/pseuds/VasilisaTheAngel
Summary: When Widowmaker is the only one to catch on to Sombra's scheming, it makes the hacker see the woman in a new light. Maybe she's found a new "friend" in the deadly assassin. Maybe something even more, if she's lucky.But Widowmaker has her own plans, her own wants and her own demons that she needs to deal with. But maybe a certain woman can help with that. Maybe she can help light the darkness that clouds every recess of Widow's mind. Maybe she can even teach the spider how to feel again.





	1. Chapter 1

In her time as a member of Talon so far, Sombra had spent ample time getting to know the people around her. And by "getting to know" she meant learning everything she could about them; names, ranks, ages, backgrounds, family, strengths, weaknesses, whether or not they could be a potential threat or liability, how she could use all this against them if need be. It was all useful information and  all so easily accessed ... Really. Someone should probably do something about that.

 

When she had first joined the terrorist organisation, it were on her own steam. She had not been scouted or kidnapped and corrupted or even converted, no. Sombra simply sought out to better herself in a world that seemed so hellbent on tearing itself apart. A world where underdogs would never see the light of day. The woman had no real cares for those around her, she had distanced herself and disposed of any emotional ties a long time ago, she only cared about coming out on top now. Tired of the corruption she saw all around, the only way to achieve change that she could see was to first achieve chaos. To build herself up until no one dared oppose her. Talon seemed like a perfect first point of call.

 

Because of this, however, she started at the bottom of the barrel. Sent on either simple hit or on what could be suicide missions. But she'd always return, always come out on top, by any means necessary. She'd seen many people come and go, whether they were killed in action, moved to more "important" roles or simply taken away one day and never heard from again. Sombra would simple note who they were, where they had gone, and move on to "getting to know" whomever replaced them. Life goes on, as they say. Well. Not for everyone, she supposed.

 

Now, Talon was an organisation filled with an eclectic mix of people with all kinds of skills and abilities and enhancements and prosthetics, many of which from the Omnic Crisis when many people went to great lengths simply to make sure they survived. Which was useful, in a way, because it meant no one really paid attention to the strange, observant woman with the glowing, prosthetic arms and legs and cybernetic enhancements in her head and down her spine. No one questioned the purple claws on the ends of those hands that moved so swiftly over all kinds of technology and the instant, knowing look in those deep purple eyes even from the first, light touch. And that was exactly how she wanted to keep it - for now, at least.

 

Even so, eventually her skills in stealth were noticed and she began to be given more and more covert missions. Occasionally she would be placed with one or two other people but mainly she'd be going in alone, always instructed to be in and out as swiftly as possible and to always ensure she was not seen. This was no concern of hers. Sombra had relied on short-range teleporters to get her out of risky situations and had long ago installed cloaking mechanisms in her gear that rendered her invisible to all bar infrared sensors. Even without these, she was a genius hacker for god sakes! She could remotely hack the entire alarm system of a building before entering and then just rely on her natural sneakiness to get her by.

 

Once her quite frankly incredible hacking ability was recognised after a mission that would have gone south very quickly without it, she finally made it into the big leagues. Talon had varying ranks of special agents. These agents were the best of the best, given the most difficult missions and expected to handle them without a hitch. These were the agents who dealt with negotiations, public assassinations and the ever-troublesome Overwatch. Sombra knew all these agents by name before she'd even met them - she knew exactly what made them tick as well. Information which became increasingly useful as she more and more became and integral part of the teams. Then finally, finally, came the day she was pulled aside by Talon officials and introduced to the highest ranking special agents.

 

Reaper and Widowmaker were essentially the stuff of legend around Talon HQ; former Overwatch agents who had defected to Talon and would know how to tear the hero's organisation apart from the inside out. They were given all the most important missions which they would carry out with deadly precision. They were never seen around the main base, no. They had their own, special, quarters which they resided in they only they, and the Talon officials, had access to. They were hailed as twisted heroes and no one ever had joined their ranks. Well, not until now at least. And Sombra was proud to say she already knew everything about them.

 

Reaper presented dark and mysterious; originally known as Gabriel Reyes and now aged 56, before Overwatch and the Omnic Crisis he had been involved in a Government Soldier Enhancement Program. According to what Sombra had read, he went on to become on the founding members of Overwatch, moving on to lead the Blackwatch after the Omnic Crisis had passed. Apparently he became increasingly unstable, having a hand in the explosion that lead to Overwatch being disbanded. Apparently the explosion had killed him. Apparently not. The documents Sombra had read said that Reaper had been involved in some freakish "medical miracle" with relatively new technology that  had brought him back, yes, but as some kind of inhuman, wraith-like thing. Upon meeting him, the woman quickly decided he was probably still just as unstable, if not more so - he was definitely grumpy to say the least.

 

Widowmaker was, quite frankly, the more interesting of the two; originally known as Amélie Lacroix and now 33, she was kidnapped by Talon in attempts to get to her husband Gérard Lacroix, a known Overwatch agent, when their assassination attempts on him failed. They brainwashed her, killing away her personality and reprogramming her to appear completely fine, as if she'd never been taken when she was "saved", only to kill her husband at first plausible opportunity and return to Talon afterwards. From there they killed whatever was left of the poor woman mentally, trained her to be a top class sniper and suppressed any and all emotion. Her skin turned cold and blue, giving her a frosty exterior as well as interior. She was ruthless and cruel to a point and Sombra couldn't wait for their first mission together to see what she could really do. But... When that first mission came, Sombra found herself with an opportunity that she couldn't miss out on.

 

The three of them were sent to Volskaya Industries to assassinate the CEO, Katya Volskaya. It started with Sombra disabling the security system remotely, then with Reaper "going ghost" as the hacker had taken to thinking of it and killing all nearby guards, allowing Widowmaker to slip in unnoticed. The blue woman got herself up to the rafters with ease, poising herself ready the strike as soon as she had a shot but it never came. Before Widowmaker could even plan a shot the security alarm rang out, alerting the guards to Talon's presence. Chaos erupted and Sombra laughed.

 

All in all, everything went accordingly to the hacker's own plan. She had her time alone with Volksaya, who remained very much alive, and was able to talk her into a friendship. Finally, she may be able to get somewhere. All this lackeys work she had been doing for all this time seemed to be paying off because now she was in the big leagues, she had started to build her team and she would play to win. No one even suspected a thing... Or so she thought...

 

She didn't even know she'd been caught out until much later.

 

When sat on the transport back the Talon's HQ, not many words were said and there was a general feeling of annoyance and displeasure in the air. Reaper was sat, idly reloading his guns and ammo belts pre-emptively when he turned to look at Sombra. Despite not being able to see his eyes, she could feel the anger in his gaze.

 

"What the fuck was that?" He hissed out, voice low and gravelly. The hacker glanced over at him from where she was sat, scrolling through news headlines. She raised an eyebrow.

 

"What do you mean," she said nonchalantly, knowing herself to be a good enough actress that he would guess her involvement from that comment alone. 

 

"The alarms. You were supposed to cut them off." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

 

"Yeah? I did."  Sombra huffed. "They must a had back up systems I didn't know about..." She shrugged and went back to scrolling, resisting a smirk when she heard Reaper growl and mutter under his breath. She never looked Widowmaker's way to gage her reaction. Maybe she should have.

 

\-------------

 

It wasn't until a week later, once Talon had reprimanded them for the failed mission fully and Sombra had convinced herself that no one suspected she had anything to do with the the failure, that she found out just how thin the ice she was treading truly was. Reaper had seemed to ease up a little after the first mission. He was more relaxed being around Sombra in an everyday setting than he was on a mission. A lot less intense. Widowmaker was as distant as ever.

 

Nothing prepared the Latina for when she got "busted" so to speak.

 

She had spent the night working in her room, surrounded by holo screens which all displayed different sets of content, whether they be webpages or computer programs. She'd been instructed to find another way to get to Volskaya and, for all intents and purposes, that's what she was doing. Her room was pitch black, bar the light from the glow of the screens which where all set to dim, so when the other person first entered, she had no way of seeing them. She didn't hear them either, over the noise of the computers. In fact, it wasn't until they were stood right behind her that she even noticed their presence.

 

The first thing that she heard was the sharp coughing of someone clearing their throat. She jumped and spun around in her chair, evidently taken by surprise by the sudden company. Widowmaker was stood behind her, stern glare painted across her delicate, normally emotionless, features, blue skin and green eyes glowing in the dim light of the screens and hands places firmly on her hips making her already intimidating form even more domineering. Sombra chuckled.

 

“Hello there hermosa! What brings you here? Thought you would have been busy skulking by now.” She said with a slight smirk on her face. She could tell the French woman was trying to come across as intimidating but it wasn't working. Sombra was too confident in her own abilities for something as simple as intimidation to work on her. Widow’s face screwed up into a scowl.

 

“You would do well not to brush me off. Especially not when I know things that may be… interesting to you.” That caught the Latina’s attention. She cocked up an eyebrow and stared at her colleague in intrigue. What could Widowmaker have that would possibly interest Sombra, genius hacker? The French woman chuckled.

 

“Well, I happen to know exactly what you've done.” She said maliciously, lips curling into a wicked smile. Sombra’s blood ran cold. Surely she couldn't mean what the hacker thought she meant? Everything had been calculated! Everything had been so precise! No one who had questioned her had caught on yet! They all bought her story of the hidden back up security, and they had no reason not to. What made Widowmaker different?

 

The blue woman noticed the sudden tension that wracked Sombra’s body. Her smile went from wicked to cruel. She leant forward slightly, so she was more at the hacker’s height and their faces were almost touching. She stared Sombra in the eyes with a half lidded gaze.

 

“Oui, mon cher voleur. I know exactly what you did at Volskaya Industries. You're the reason she lives, and what for? What do you gain?” Widowmaker stood up straight and took a step back. “I suppose it shall not matter once I share this information, it shall all come out, non?”  Sombra swallowed, eyes widening slightly. 

 

“You wouldn't dare.” She said in a low voice, probably coming off as more worried than angry even though both emotions were definitely there. “I know things about you, don't forget that. You rat me out and I spill everything.” Widowmaker stared at her for a moment before bursting into a deep, throaty laugh but as suddenly as it started, it stopped again, leaving the French woman’s face a cold mask of indifference. It was genuinely unnerving.

 

“Oh, no, no mon chéri. Do you really think there is anything you can say that will hurt me? Better than you have tried and failed. There is nothing left that can hurt me anyway. Now, you on the other hand? I could ruin you with a sentence.” Sombra narrowed her eyes, starting to internally panic.

 

“And will you?”

 

“Well. That depends.”

 

“On what?” Sombra cocked an eyebrow.

 

“On whether or not you get in my way.” Widow smirked slyly, spinning around on her heels and giving a small wave before strutting out of the room, leaving Sombra alone once more. Well shit. That did not go as planned… not at all


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Nearly finished with chapter 3 so expect that in a week too, my lovelies,

It had been a couple of weeks since Sombra's run in with Widowmaker and to say that the Latina woman was anxious would be a gross understatement. No, she'd been downright paranoid. Everything someone would say to her, every time someone would even tap her just to get her attention, it would all put her more on edge; like she was just waiting for Widowmaker to have told someone her little secret. It was torture.

At the same time, however, the hacker had to admit she had discovered a new found respect for the blue woman. Threats? Blackmail? Those things were right up her street! Never in all her life would she have expected the sniper to be so darn sneaky! Yes she was a stone cold killer, as deadly as she was beautiful, but Sombra didn't realise that Widowmaker was manipulative too. She could get used to this. Well. So long as those manipulations weren't aimed at her, she could.

The thought had crossed Sombra’s mind to try and “befriend” the assassin. To see if they can come up with some kind of deal, where Sombra helps the French woman with whatever it was she was trying to do and, in exchange, Widowmaker wouldn't rat the Latina out. Maybe if she asked nice enough, Widow would even help her with future sneaking around. Maybe. Currently, it seems like Sombra is best and only chance to not get uncovered. She would have to do it, but first? She'd have to find out how best to actually approach the woman in question. Luckily, she knew someone who she could talk to.

In the weeks following the Volskaya incident, Reaper had actually started to warm up to Sombra. He had begin to treat her like less of an annoying pest and more like daughter, almost. It was nice, in a way, as Sombra had never really had a father figure before so it was an interesting change. She'd grown up in Dorado, Mexico, the only child of a widow who's husband had been killed in the Omnic Crisis. Her mother had raised her for fourteen years before being murdered in a mugging by the Los Muretos and when Sombra joined them not long after, she found out first hand just how cutthroat everyone was. Family was not something she'd experienced in a long time.

Another good thing about Reaper’s change in behaviour was the fact that she now had someone she could actually talk to so she didn't feel completely alone in those big living quarters that only three people. It made her less isolated and for that she was thankful. It was also a help that the wraith seemed to know Widowmaker well so would probably have the best idea on how to approach her.

The Latina decided to scan the security cameras for their floor to find the man. She'd hacked the system on her first day there and then proceeded to set up permanent translocators in the blind spots of every room she would have reason to be in for quick and easy access. Sombra found the wraith standing in the kitchen making food. Interesting. She thought he didn't need to eat… ah well, that could be a question for later, for now she needed to zip over before he left.

The kitchen was only very dimly lit when Sombra arrived, and it took her a second to notice the man dressed all in black, mask off and hood pulled over his face, sat hunched over at the small dining table. The kitchen itself was grey, dull, and very basic, but it was stocked full of decent food so at least there was always something to eat. When everything was so dimly lit, it made it very hard to see.

The woman slipped noiselessly over to the table, taking a seat opposite the brooding man. She watched him intently, not saying a word, waiting for him to notice her. Sombra knew that he probably sensed her presence the moment she sat down, he was probably either too busy being angsty to talk or just didn't want to start a conversation with her. Oh well, she could start one herself.

“Hey, Gabe? I thought you didn't need to eat?” She asked, deciding to start with some kind of small talk instead of just launching straight in to what she wanted to ask the older man. He'd probably take it better and be more likely to actually talk to her that way… well, at least she hoped he would.

Reaper looked up at her, red irises on black eyes locking onto her face, grey, mottled skin smoking slightly. The gaping hole across the side of his left cheek twisting slightly as he clenched and unclenched his teeth before speaking. God. Sombra swore she would never get used to the sight of sharp, jagged teeth and sinewy flesh through that hole. His nostrils flared slightly as he grunted, the hole twisting more when he began to speak.

“Well I'm dead so I guess I don't need to… sometimes I guess food is just nice.” He said in a low and rumbling yet very bored and blasé voice. Sombra nodded and he clenched his jaw again. “I’m sure that's not all you came for. What you you really want, mi joven?” He sighed and Sombra chuckled.

“Heh, you got me. Uh, there's actually something I wanna ask you…”

“Go on.”

“You and Widowmaker are pretty close, right? Well, I wanna talk to her. Persona a persona, bueno? How do I do that? I don't think she likes me.” Sombra was trying to come across as causal and, quite frankly, innocent as possible. God she hoped it was working. Reaper gave a short, barking laugh before speaking.

“What? Befriending Amélie? You're gonna have you work cut out for you alright.” He shifted in his seat slightly, leaning slightly closer to the woman sat opposite him. “Well, for starters - and I know this will be very hard for you - no secrets, no sneaking, no spying, no lies and certainly no blackmail. She's killed people for far less.” Sombra shifted uncomfortably; spying and sneaking were her best features.

“I can do that,” she said with a neutral face. Reaper chuckled again.

“I should expect so.” The man leaned back again before pushing his chair away from the table. He stood up and walked towards the fridge, opened it and let the light from inside flood the room. He grabbed a carton of milk, opened it, and chugged some of the contents. Some of it dribbled through the hole in his cheek, making Sombra sneer in disgust.

“So messy, old man.” She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. Reaper capped the milk, put it back m the fridge and closed the door, darkening the room again. He ignored her comment, but did wipe the milk from his jaw. He turned to face her, eyes glowing in the dark.

“By the way, Sombra? I know you've read up on us just like you have everyone else in this place… Amélie probably does too, she's sharp. Don't try to talk to her about her past, she won't take too kindly to it. I know I let you call me Gabe, but she will only let you use the name she's taken. The only reason she allows me to call her Amélie is ‘cuz we’re old friends. Remember that.” Sombra nodded and stood up.

“Is that all?” She asked, taking a couple of steps towards her translocator. Reaper nodded and she stepped through, heading back to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

If she was honest about it, Sombra was actually nervous about approaching the assassin. She knew that the steaks were high and there was a lot that could go wrong. No one has yet come to “talk” to her about what she had done at Volskaya Industries, but she still felt like they would at any moment. She also knew that if she said one wrong thing to Windowmaker that, if she hasn't told anyone already, her secret would be spilled in an instant. There was a lot riding on Sombra’s ability to sweet talk the other woman. Dear lord, she hoped she would be successful.

Sombra didn't really need to use her screens to find the other woman. No. In the weeks following the Volskaya incident, she has gotten so used to tracking Widowmaker’s every move that she had learnt every haunt, the days she went there, and the times, off by heart. It was currently 5:37 on a Monday afternoon. The blue woman would undoubtedly be on the balcony by now, looking out on the training grounds. It was something she often did, although Sombra was yet to learn why. Maybe it was just a good spot for thinking…. Maybe not. Either way, Widow was alone, so now was the perfect time to approach her.

The hacker translocated over to the balcony, standing mere feet behind the woman she needed to speak to. She coughed to announce a presence, making Widowmaker visibly tense up. She turned her head to look at Sombra, a contemptuous look painted across her face. She glanced the Latina up and down briefly before her green eyes met purple. All was quite for a moment before the assassin spoke.

“I thought I told you to stay out of my way, voleuse.” She sneered before turning back to face to training grounds. Sombra huffed and folded her arms.

“I'm not here to get in your way, hermosa. I'm here to make a deal.” Widowmaker scoffed.

“I thought I already told you, there's nothing you have that you can use against me. Nothing worth me making a deal for.”

“Yeah, I know. That's why I'm not gonna bother doing that.” Not that caught Widowmaker's attention. So Sombra wasn't trying to use threats or blackmail? Well that was new. There was silence again for a moment before Sombra spoke once more. “I was going to ask if I could… help you with whatever it is you're trying to do… and in exchange, you could keep my little secret a secret?” The French woman chuckled, turning to face her colleague again.

“Oh really? And just what would you do to help me?” Sombra sighed.

“Well it would help if I knew what you were trying to do first…” she muttered, just loud enough for the other woman to hear her. “Well I do surveillance, you know? I can get you information if you need it, tell you what's going on, what people are doing. I don't know what you want but I'm willing to try.” She prayed that would be enough. In reality she wasn't sure what else would interest the woman but she had to try. There was no way she could let anyone else know what she had done.

There was a silence, a deafening silence. Neither woman moved, neither said a word; instead they simply stared. Surprisingly enough, it was Widowmaker who made the first move. She took too long steps towards the hacker, gazing down at her. Eyes narrowed, mouth drawn in a thin line. She stood there for a moment, motionless, before smirking.

“Well, if you insist… Maybe I could use your aid. You might just prove useful yet.” Sombra let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in, shoulders sagging slightly as tension flooded out of her body.   
“But…” she tensed again, “Make one wrong move, cross me, deceive me, get in the way, and I tell everyone what you did.”

Sombra clenched her jaw, feeling like she should say something but all she could do was nod. The blue woman stepped around her, walking toward the door that lead back inside. She opened the door but stopped before walking through, she turned around to look at the other woman.

“One last thing, do not come to me. If I need you, I will find you.” And with that, she left.

———————

It was a weird kind of limbo that Sombra found herself in. Since making the deal with Widowmaker, she thought she'd be less on edge. She wasn't. She now found herself anxiously waiting for the moment that her services would be needed. She knew that the blue woman could come and find her at any moment and leave instructions that she would have to follow to a T. Sombra also felt the need to prove herself - to show that she, and her skills, could be of use - especially since, if she screwed up again, she would be in a worse position than before.

Despite all this, however, she found herself actually excited to discover what it was that Widowmaker would want her to do. It was all incredibly secretive, and Sombra loved a good secret. Despite everything she knew about the other woman, she was still very enigmatic… and someone that the Latina couldn't wait to unravel.

When Widowmaker first requested use of her skills after the deal was struck, somebody had been in the kitchen, making herself a sandwich. The taller woman had slipped in quietly, although the hacker still heard her coming. She turned round to see stern, green eyes looking back at her. Sombra grinned widely, okay, time to get to work.

“Ah! Hermosa! And here I was thinking that I was the only person in this place that actually ate anything!” Widowmaker narrowed her eyes, obviously not in the mood for Sombra’s jokes (as if she ever would be). She crossed her arms and sighed.

“You said you would aid me in my work. I'm sure you know what happens if you refuse, ma chéri.” Sombra rolled her eyes and took a bite of her sandwich, chewing it infuriatingly slowly.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You'll tell everyone what I did and I'll be ruined. But, you know, it would actually be helpful if I knew what you were doing…” Widow narrowed her eyes slightly, and flitter of what looked like uncertainty flashed across her features. She was quiet for a moment, leaving Sombra to actually eat her sandwich, before she spoke again.

“I know that you've done your research about me. I know you know things about me that even I can't remember. I assume that you also know about what Talon did to me, and the chip they put in my head to control me. I want you to find out everything about it, I want you to come tell me all you know, and I want you to help me disable it. I want to feel again.”

That had Sombra slightly taken aback. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. However, this could be very interesting… She was sure there was something she could do to help (especially since it could help her a lot in the long run).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm so sorry for the slightly late update but I can explain! I dislocated my knee and spent yesterday evening in a&e so by the time I go home I was exhausted! But I'll be back on track with Monday updates next week!
> 
> And, now, we're getting into the good stuff!

A couple of months had gone by since Sombra had started looking into the chip in Widowmaker’s head and it was proving to be much harder than she anticipated. She knew from past experience that Talon had crap security when it came to storing the information of basically everyone in the compound but, annoyingly, the security was much tighter surrounding this information. The blue woman had regularly been checking up on the Latina’s progress which, honestly, she couldn't say she minded too much. It was nice, in a way.

At first not much changed at all. Widowmaker would walk in, demand results, and then leave in a huff when she didn't have any. However, after a little while, the other woman almost became curious. She would come and visit the Latina more often, and hang around for longer, but not in an impatient way. Sombra found that she would just watch, an interested gleam in here green eyes. Sometimes it would only be for a few minutes, sometimes she would simply stand and watch Sombra tap away for a couple of hours. Even more surprisingly, Widow began actually talking to her normally. Well, as close to normal as she supposed the emotionless woman could get.

“What are you doing?” The French woman would ask curiously, leaning her head near Sombra's shoulder to get a better look at the screens. Sombra would humour her and give her a “dumbed down” description of what exactly she was doing. They would still probably be a lot of terms that the other woman wouldn't understand, but that was more because it was what Sombra was used to saying than anything else. Despite this, Widow would nod as if she understood exactly what the Latina was saying, should continue to ask questions politely and try to find out more about the technology that was inside her head. It was nice, and became even nicer when the two women started having general conversations.

They would talk about lots of different things; from Sombra’s time Talon so far, to simple things like how they took their tea or coffee, to how Reaper treated them both like surrogate daughters in his own way. No matter what they talked about, however, they never brought up each other's pasts. And, especially, nothing was said about any prosthetics, cybernetics or blue skin. Even so, it made Sombra feel good just to be around the other woman, especially since it was Widowmaker coming to her and not the other way around. Even more so that she was coming to her more and more regularly and staying for longer and longer.

They were sat in the kitchen together when Sombra first felt it; the flitter in her stomach and the slight heat on her cheeks. It had her slightly taken aback, she hadn't felt anything like this before and she didn't quite know what it meant. Widowmaker had just made her a mug of breakfast tea (despite it being midday) after approaching her for a conversation. Their hands had touched for a moment when the cup was passed, fingers brushing over each other, and when the blue woman’s cold hands didn't instantly move, Sombra’s purple eyes flitted up to meet green. That's when she felt it.

They stayed like that for a moment, neither talking, neither moving, until humanoid figure started to materialise near them. Once he had fully formed, a maskless, hoodie clad, Reaper glanced at the two women before turning round to look at them. He chuckled.

“You two are awfully close, aren't you?” He said with a small smile. Sombra quickly took the mug, holding it up to her face, hoping to hide how warm cheeks suddenly felt. Widow simply took a step back and put her hands behind her back. She then walked over to the counter where her cup of tea stood, picking it up and taking a long sip. Neither of them said anything in their defence. Reaper went and took a seat at the table. He glanced between the two women again before smiling to himself.

“Now Amélie, I can't believe you made tea and none for me.” He said with a chuckle. The French woman narrowed her eyes slightly, taking another long sip.

“How were we even supposed to know you would be coming here, Gabe?”

“Hey, you should know by now, I can always tell when the kettle is boiling. I have a nose for it.” Sombra rolled her eyes and took a swig of her still piping hot tea, regretting it instantly. Although, she had to admit that it was very good. The French woman seemed to know her tea. The Latina swallowed slowly, trying to keep a straight face and not show everyone that her throat was burning.

“So what were you talking about? Best not of been me.” Reaper said, glancing at both women again.

“Maybe we were, maybe we weren't. What does it matter to you, old man?” Sombra retaliated, burnt tongue slightly sore.

“Ahh I've got my reputation to think about!” Reaper smiled, widely, the hole in his left cheek twisting in a grotesque manner. Sombra bit the inside of her cheek to prevent a reaction, Widow didn't appear to do anything. She just simply stood there, expressionless.

“We weren't saying anything about you, mon cher. I was simply telling Sombra about my new tea. If you're that bothered by it, I can make you some.” She said before turning to fill the kettle up with water again.

Silence fell over the room, bar the humming of the boiling kettle. Nothing need be said, and everyone was comfortable enough embracing the silence and each other's company. Sombra blew at her tea, praying it would cool down enough so the mug would stop burning her hand. She would have put it down by now, but didn't want to risk her cheeks still be as red as they felt. She watched intently as Widow moved to make Reaper’s tea; what's the way her hands delicately moved, the way her hips swayed when she stepped towards the cupboard to fetch the tea. She was beautiful, beautiful in a way that Sombra hadn't notice before.

The Latina felt her stomach flutter again and quickly looked away. Widowmaker sauntered back over to the table, with a fresh cup of tea. She passed it to Reaper who took it with a thankful nod and took a swig immediately. He made a noise and nodded his head, obviously enjoying the drink.

“It's good,” he hummed in approval, “you have good taste.” Something flashed across Widowmaker’s features, it wasn't much of anything but it was there and it almost looked like joy. It was nice to see.

Now Sombra knew that Widowmaker did feel some things but it was never really enough to call them proper emotions. They were too small, too fleeting. Even so, she would feel again soon, the hacker would make sure of it. But she knew things would be hard on the blue woman… as well as all the positive emotions that she would get back - happiness, empathy, excitement… love - there would also be a flood of the negative ones. All the guilt, sadness, anger and self-hatred that would come with the things she had done; not to mention the anxiety, pain and probable flashbacks that would come with being brainwashed and tortured. But Sombra already decided that she would support the woman with whatever she would go through. Whatever she needed.

And then Sombra realised she'd never thought that about another person before. There had been people she cared about to an extent, of course, but not enough to want to support them through the unknown. Yes, this whole thing had started as a business deal of sorts but it felt more like a friendship now in a way. Or something along those lines. And then she thought about she stomach flutters and flushing not long ago… that wasn't something she'd experienced before either.

It was strange; the hacker would have known what that kind of reaction on someone else was instantly! But she supposed she'd never bothered looking too deeply into her own emotions. They would only get in the way. The only thing she could think of was that she was reacting as if she had feeling for the other woman… but Sombra didn't get silly, school-girl, crushes! At least… she didn't think so.

She took another sip of her tea, deep in thought. It was good, she'd give the French woman that, but she had no clue what kind of tea it was. Her mind had been other places when Widowmaker had been talking about it. She drank a bit more this time, feeling like it had sufficiently cooled down enough for her to drink properly, and decided to tune in to her colleague’s conversation. They were idly chatting about when they would next need to sort out what food would go in the fridge. Nothing important. But then they probably left the important conversations for when Sombra wasn't around. How annoying.

She went back to her own thoughts. So what if she did have some kind of feelings for Widowmaker? It wouldn't get in the way of her work and she highly doubted the blue woman would have any interest in her so nothing would come of it anyway. Why even bother thinking about it? She could just brush it under the metaphorical rug! Or she could try. Soon enough it would become apparent that that's easier said than done.

—————————

It was that evening that Sombra finally got somewhere with her searching; she found a file. A file that she was certain would have all the information she needed on the emotional inhibitor. It had all kinds of systems around it to protect it, but Sombra was fairly sure she could hack her way through. Then she would finally be able to get some real work done.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A double update? Amazing!
> 
> I've had plenty of time this past week (thank my dislocated knee) to get some writing done so I've managed to finish three chapters when normally finish one! 
> 
> We're really getting into the story now, and it will only get gayer from here on!
> 
> So chapter's five and six, here we go!

She'd done it, she'd finally done it; Sombra had finally cracked the file. She was in. It had taken an irritating amount of effort to locate and access this information but she finally had it in her hands, ready to be used however she wanted. Perfect. She needed to go tell Widowmaker, but first she wanted to reread the file just so she knew exactly what she would have to do.

As it turned out, she didn't need to go find Widowmaker as the French woman came to her. She was just reaching the end of the file when she heard the clicking of heels entering her room. She spun her chair around, beaming at her colleague, feeling proud of what she had done.

“Ah, Widow! Hermosa! Just the person I wanted to see!” She said, still grinning. She hopped out of her chair and bounded over to the other woman, grabbing her hands and confusing her deeply. “Guess who's the greatest!” She cheered

“What do you mean?” Widow said, raising one eyebrow.

“I found it!” The French woman’s other eyebrow darted up to meet the other, a look that could only be described as joy and surprise overcame her features. “I found it, I hacked it, I read it, and we should be able to get your emotions back by tonight!” She cheered, still beaming.

“Really?” Widow said quietly, her throat going dry, “you're not lying? You really can?” This seemed too good to be true, and Widowmaker was not one to be taken in by false hope and colourful lies but, oh, she wanted this to be true.

“I'm being one hundred percent honest! I could get to work now, if you like.”

“That sounds… good…” Sombra clapped her hands together.

“Great! Go sit on the bed, I'll set up my gear.” She said, turning on her cybernetics using the small, hidden buttons on the insides of the prosthetic arm and legs. They lit up instantly, glowing a bright purple which faded into the blue the closer it was to her body. She walked over to the bed where Widowmaker was sat and perched next to her, wiggling the fingers on her bionic hand to wake them up a little. They glowed more, the beginnings of her hacking matrix projecting out of the fingertips.

She poked and prodded at the air, changing the projection so it was sensitive enough to work just how she wanted it to. She had to admit she was slightly nervous, having never done anything like this before. She waved her hand around the French woman’s head, feeling for the exact location of the chip. She's rested her fingertips again Widow’s skull once she'd found it.

“Okay, before I do this I want to know it's definitely what you want. What you get won't all be good, you know.” She said, looking the other woman in the eyes. Widowmaker nodded.

“This has all I have ever wanted since they shut off my emotions in the first place. I know things will be bad but I know I will not regain my memories, so I just want something that is human.” That was the most heartfelt thing Sombra had ever heard Widow say. There was no way she could turn her down.

“Okay. I need you to stay completely still while I do this, got it?” The blue woman tensed up slightly as a response. Sombra swallowed and took a deep breath in; it was now or never.

It took a fair amount of probing round to begin to unlock the emotional inhibitor chip. The thing was tough, designed to keep out hackers, but it had never met this hacker. The Latina grinned when she started getting somewhere in disabling the chip. She could tell she was close in disabling it completely, it just needed a little more probing. She pulled her hand away when she finally felt the systems give, grinning at the other woman widely.

“Are you feeling any different yet?” She asked, searching Widowmaker’s face for any sign of emotions. Sombra was slightly taken aback when she saw tears welling up in those green eyes. “A-are you ok?” She asked, frowning. The blue woman didn't move, didn't speak, but her tears started to spill.

“They took everything from me…” she said at last, voice barely above a whisper. She started shaking. “They took _everything_! I _killed_ my _husband_ … I couldn't even mourn him! I can't even remember how he died…” She lifted her knees onto the bed, pulling them up to her chest and hiding her face. Sombra watched for a moment, not completely sure how to react as dealing with emotions had never been her strong suit. She had to try though.

The Latina skidding along the bed, moving closer to the crying woman. She wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her close in a slightly awkward hug. She's was expecting the assassins to move, to push her away, but she didn't. Instead she moved slightly move into the hacker’s embrace, hiding her face in the younger woman’s chest.

“Hey, hey hermosa? I don't know if this helps but… we can get them for this, you know?” She sighed, confession time. “The whole reason I joined Talon, and Los Muretos before that, was to make me better, to get me the power and the “friends” I needed to take people like this down. Score one for the underdogs, sí? Ah, you… could help me with that. We could take them down together… avenge your husband and… my mom.” She squeezed her eyes shut, surprised at how much effort it took to hand over any information on her self. Widowmaker sniffed and looked up at Sombra, teary green meeting brilliant purple.

“Really?” She said weakly, feeling the need for cling on to some kind of hope right now. This was as good as any.

“Yeah… yeah. We’ll kick their asses, you'll see.” She gave the blue woman a reassuring smile before scooting back when she tried to sit up.

Widow looked Sombra in the eyes once more, something strange taking over her features for just a second, not staying for long enough for the Latina to work out what it was. They just sat there, silently looking at each other for a minute; Sombra not sure what to say and Widowmaker with tears silently cascading down her face. And then she spoke:

“Do you want to know why my skin is really blue?” The French woman asked, surprising the hacker. She thought she already knew but… maybe the file was wrong?

“Uh… sure…”

“I choked on a baguette.” Widow said monotonously, looking the Latina dead in eyes with no hint of emotion on her face. Sombra wasn't sure how to react…she couldn't tell if free other woman was joking or being deadly serious right now and that worried her. It wasn't until a grin broke the French woman’s face that the hacker was sure she was joking.

“Dude! You actually had me going there for a minute!” Sombra cackled. Widowmaker started laughing as well at the point, it was soft and lilting and the most beautiful laugh The Latina had ever heard. She felt her stomach flutter once more.

Deep down, both women knew that things would get a lot harder for the assassin before they could even hope to get better. But for now, this was nice; it was good and it felt right and, if there were moments like this, maybe everything else wouldn't be too bad… maybe.

———————————

Things we're generally alright until that night, Sombra had spent the evening chatting to Widowmaker about how she was finding the sudden emotion and how different things felt. She was impressed with how well the woman was dealing with it so far, after the initial breakdown she seemed fairly stable. It was impressive, the hacker wasn't fully sure what she was expecting but it wasn't this.

When the two women had gone to there separate rooms to turn in for the night the Latina had been pleased with herself and her work. She'd also surprised herself at her ability to help comfort the other woman. Maybe it was because she actually… cared for her? More so than she’d cared for other people in the past, it seemed. She was quickly developing a make shift family and she decided then and there she would do anything to protect them. She’d gone to sleep on that though, feeling overall good. Until she was woke.

When Sombra awoke, she felt groggy and disoriented and had no clue why she wasn't still asleep. That was when she felt eyes on her. She snapped awake, bolting up in bed and scanning the room. When she didn't immediately see anyone, she pulled her spare gun out from the side of her bed, aiming it in to dark.

“Who’s there! Come out before I shoot!” She yelled, reaching over to flip on her lamp. Widowmaker stepped out of the shadow, still in her pyjamas, tears streaking down her face. Sombra suddenly felt far more concerned than angry.

“Hermosa, what happen?” She asked, shifting along the bed so the other woman could sit down. The French woman sat next to her, taking in shaky breaths. Sombra shifted closer. “What happened?” The blue woman shook her head.

“Nightmares… flashbacks… whatever you call it. I was reliving the torture.” She said quietly, shuddering. Sombra wrapped an arm around Widow again, pulling her close until she stopped shaking.

“You can stay here if you want tonight… see if that helps with the nightmares.” She suggested, really hoping that Widow would say yes.

The French woman nodded and Sombra shifted against the wall, pulling back the duvet so Widow could climb under. They curled up together and, although the hacker knew there was nothing in it, it made her heart beat that little bit faster. They got to sleep surprisingly quickly and, thankfully, there were no more disturbances that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A double update? Amazing!
> 
> I've had plenty of time this past week (thank my dislocated knee) to get some writing done so I've managed to finish three chapters when normally finish one! 
> 
> We're really getting into the story now, and it will only get gayer from here on!
> 
> So chapter's five and six, here we go!

The days, and the nights, that followed were much the same as the first. Sombra and Widowmaker would leave each other to their own devices for most of the day, maybe idly chatting over food or cups of tea (the blue woman being much easier to talk to now she was feeling emotion again), then, come nightfall, the assassin would creep into the hacker’s room, wanting the company that she found helped chase away the nightmares. It wouldn't always work, and sometimes both women would be up all night, one consoling the other. Last night had been one of those nights.

Widowmaker and Sombra sat in the kitchen, the former half asleep on the table, the latter praying for the sweet embrace of death. It seemed that the blue woman had issues with being in the dark, sometimes only being able to sleep in lamplight or natural light but even then her sleep was still greatly disturbed. It made the hacker wonder just what Talon had done to her when they here “working on her” but she knew better than to ask. Currently though, she wanted sleep, coffee, or death but wasn't sure which would be best. She dropped her head to the table and groaned.

Reaper materialised in the kitchen by the kettle, wearing only pyjama bottoms. His back was scarred and smoking slightly, hair short yet shaggy. He flicked the kettle on and it began to hum loudly. Sombra lifted her head off the table, glaring at the dead man, Widow kept sleeping. The wraith glanced at the two woman, smirking.

“Don't give me that look, Sombra, I'm making coffee for you too.” Reaper said jokily, leaning against the counter. The hacker sighed.

“Yeah thanks… its just loud. I got, like, no sleep last night.” She groaned again, sinking into the seat. Reaper chuckled.

“Mhmmm, I heard. Which one of you was screaming this time? Amélie again?” He asked and she grimaced, thinking about just how bad last night had been. “She's different… what did you-”

“Nothing she didn't ask for…” Sombra cut over him, frowning.

“I wasn't going to say that, I just want to know what happened. It’s almost like… wait. You got her to feel again, didn't you?” She didn't look at him, confirming all he needed to know. “Now is this really what she wanted? Or is this something you thought would be useful to you?” His tone had gone cold and angry.

“Do you really think that poorly of me, old man? I knew it would have this kinda effect but it's what she wanted! It was all she's ever want… how was I meant to say no?” Reaper sighed and walked over, putting a hand on Sombra’s shoulder but she still couldn't look at him. She was responsible for this… even if it did work well eventually, she still felt like she'd caused Widowmaker unjust amounts of pain.

“I believe you, kid.” The wraith said, patting her shoulder before going to make the coffee. This was a very rare show of vulnerability for the hacker, and he could tell she wasn't just acting this time. He set to work making mugs of coffee, thinking about what had just come to light.

Amélie had been a good friend for a long time, so had Gérard, and she continued to be once they met again in Talon. But she had change, far more than he had; far more than he thought possible. Maybe it would be good for her to feel again… she would never be the Amélie Lacroix she once was, but maybe it would give Widowmaker some shot at being her own person and not a puppet to Talon. He hoped so. But it was so glaringly obvious that she would suffer before she could reach this point, why was that something she wanted? He shook his head, bringing the coffee to the table.

Reaper took a seat, passing one of the mugs to Sombra, who took it with a nod. The wraith found that he cared for the woman more than he thought he ever would. She was arrogant, underhanded, and a bit conceited, she was sneaky and not to mentioned two-faced, but could he really blame her? This world was tough, and he got the feeling she’d seen it at some of its worst. But she worked hard (despite her initial mess up), and as it turned out she was easy to talk to, funny and quick witted. In a way, she reminded the wraith of a certain cowboy he used to know… maybe that was why he saw her as a daughter. He just wished she would be more honest.

“So what do you propose we do?” He asked, taking a swig of coffee. Sombra raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

“What do you mean?” She asked, slowly sipping at the caffeinated drink.

“About Amélie. How're we gonna help her?” Sombra’s eyes widened for a moment.

“We?” She asked before shaking her head, “right. Of course you'd wanna get involved. And… I'm not sure? I'm just kinda winging it right now. She's almost got, like, PTSD symptoms and I don't really know what to do,” she admitted, sucking in a deep breath.

“What’s she saying?” Reaper asked, remembering what it was like for a lot of the men and women he had served with, before and during Overwatch, after the Ominic Crisis. Even he himself had needed support after the fighting… Maybe things would've been different if he'd actually accepted it.

“She's not saying much… but sometimes when she sleeps I hear her talking. I think she’s reliving things, you know? Seeing what Talon did to her all over again.” Sombra sighed. “I just wish I knew what to do…”

The wraith nodded, red eyed flitting to the sleeping woman. She barely moved, occasionally making small noises as if she was muttering to herself. She didn't seem distressed, which was good, but no one knew how long this would last. Widowmaker’s eyelids began to flutter slightly, showing that she was waking up.

The blue woman sat up slowly, blinking herself awake. She glanced around the room once and then look down at her hands. She didn't move for a minute, simply letting herself come to, and then her attention snapped onto the man sat next to her. She looked at him and smiled.

“Ah, Gabriel, mon cher, looking as ghastly as every I see.” She said, jokily. Reaper chuckled, taking the joke in good humour.

“And you are misanthropic as always my dear.” He said, grinning at her. It was nice seeing Widow actually smile again. “How did you sleep?” He asked and her expression fell. She frowned and looked at her hands, not saying a word. Sombra sighed.

“He knows, by the way…” she said, giving the blue woman a small smile. Widow nodded.

“I used to wish for dreams, but now? I wish they had never returned.” She frowned. “But it is nice to feel again… even though I feel pain, it is better than feeling nothing at all.”

Without thinking, Sombra reached out and put a comforting hand on the blue woman’s arm, attempting to give her a reassuring smile but completely unsure as to whether it would even slightly help. God… she really wasn't good with this, was she? Reaper said nothing, did nothing, but his eyes flitted between the two woman, seeing how close they seemed to have gotten. Hmm, interesting.

“There will be ways to manage this… I've seen people go through similar and they were stronger for it.” He was trying to be comforting in his way, practical and slightly detached, but he doubted it would help. Then a though came to him. “Not to put pressure on you but… can you still work? It would be best for Talon to know nothing of this which mean you'll have to act like nothing's changed.”

“Of course I can work Gabriel. I may have emotion again but it does not mean I am the person I once was. Amélie Lacroix is dead and you would do well to remember that. She was weak and foolish.” Widow said cooly, once again displaying the pure heartlessness that she would never be able to shake. Reaper nodded, eyes flitting away from the woman, Sombra just worried.

So, yeah, she would never be Amélie Lacroix again. But with emotion came things like empathy and guilt… what if they reared their ugly heads after Widowmaker’s next kill? How would she deal with that? She seemed pretty unstable as it was right now, and the hacker didn't want anything to make her worse. But, then again, previously the woman had seemed her most content when killing so maybe she’d be ok? Only time, and a mission, would tell.

Speaking of which, Reaper’s holo communicator (Talon standard) started beeping loudly in the pocket of his pyjama bottoms. He pulled it out, glanced at it for a moment, and ghosted out of the room, leaving the two women slightly confused. It was at this point that Sombra realised her hand was still on Widow’s arm. She moved it quickly, feeling slightly awkward. The blue woman said nothing.

When Reaper came back into the kitchen, he looked annoyed. He slumped down in the chair and dropped his holo communicator on the table, the screen was still brightly lit and full of text. Sombra glanced at it, scanning the writing in front of her. It was a mission brief.

“And here I was hoping for another day off…” she groaned.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Now, this should have been yesterday, I know, but I got super tired and went to bed early so forgot to update.
> 
> Anyways, I've been having a long think recently about how long this fan fiction is going to be. Honestly? I don't know. I have a couple of little arcs I want to do before this finished so, with the rate things are going, I'd estimate between 20-30 chapters tops? Long, I know. But hey!

The mission was supposed to be straight in and straight out again. Kill the guards, disable security, Sombra would slip in to what appeared to be a laboratory complex, hack the computer system, and extract all the necessary information, then leave without a trace. Should be simple and easy for Talon’s elite, right? Wrong. Very wrong. And, surprisingly, it wasn't Sombra’s fault this time.

Now, since the Volskaya incident, they had been sent on plenty of missions. Just none of them were that high profile… and none since Widowmaker had started feeling again. Maybe that was the problem? God the hacker hoped not…. But it did seem likely; it was Widow who was suppose to kill the first two guards so that Reaper could get in and dispose of the rest but they spent much longer than expected waiting for her to tell them it was safe over the comms. It made them both beyond restless.

By the time the signal came, Reaper was about ready to call the whole thing off. That was probably why he rushed when going to kill the other guards. That was probably why one got away unharmed. At least Sombra had shut off all security beforehand, because she didn't notice the remaining guard sneaking off either. She was too busy hiding a translocator somewhere safe. However, it still caught her off guard when the wraith called for her over the comms line; she thought he was done a little too quickly, which really should have tipped her off. It didn't, and she ran straight in, passing the man who was currently a cloud of smoke, off to find Widowmaker and head back to the helicarrier.

Sombra made quick work of getting into the laboratory, and even quicker work of locating the computer with all the information on. Her cybernetics glowed as she got closer to it, ready to start hacking, but she found the computer had very similar security systems protecting it to that of the ones that Talon themselves used on the files for the emotional inhibitor. Goddammit! That had taken ages to hack through! Or, at least, more time than she had right now. Thank the heaven, though, that she had some idea of what she was up against.

Luckily, the system didn't take too long to get through, and the woman was able to begin downloading all the necessary files fairly quickly. But the files were big and were taking much longer than she would have wanted to download onto the device that Talon had given her. It took so long, in fact, that before it could finish downloading, the remaining guard had returned with backup.

“Freeze!” The guard yelled, he and his backup all pointing their guns at the hacker, ready to fire. She tensed up, turning around to face them all slowly, hands above her head.

“Hey, hey, amigos!” She chuckled despite herself. “Now, you don’t really wanna shoot me, do you?” Her face fell into a frown when she heard the clicking of several triggers.

“Step away from the computers or we’ll shoot!”

Sombra huffed, folding her arms against her chest, glancing at the screen on the device in her hand. Nearly done, good, just a couple more minutes. She could stall for a couple minutes, right? It's what she was good at, even when there guns pointed at her face. She stepped forward slightly, so not to give the men a reason to shoot her.

“There, I moved, happy now? You know fellas, it's not very nice to point guns at people. Especially not at a lady!” She glanced at the screen again, a minute left. Then she could translocate out of this place.

“Get on the floor! Hand above your head!” One of the men yelled just as the comms link started beeping at her. She pressed the device in her ear. Reaper.

“Sombra! Where are you? What's taking so long?” He yelled down the comms. Sombra put her index finger up at the guard, asking for a minute.  
  
“I'm still in the building! Be patient, old man!” She could hear the wraith growl.

“We’ve been here for too long already! Get the files and let’s go!”

“Hey, I'm trying! It's just kinda hard when I got a dozen guns pointed at my face, you know?”

“What!?!” Reaper yelled down the line and Sombra glanced at the screen again. It was done, time to get out of there.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Gotta go.” She muted the comms and turned back to the men in front of her.

“Now… I'd love to stay and chat! But I'm not gonna.” She said with a grin, waving and turning on her translocator. All she heard was the bang of a gun before she was gone completely.

When she rematerialised outside of the building, she was suddenly very aware of pain shooting through her should, near her collar bone. She'd been hit. There was no time to worry about that now though, she needed to get back to the helicarrier before anyone found her. She ran, one arm wrapped around her body so as not for move her injured shoulder any more. She was nearly there, not caring that she was starting to get out of breath, but she could hear yelling behind her. She ran faster and they started shooting at her feet, thankfully missing every time.

“Go! Go now!” Sombra yelled frantically, diving into the helicarrier. Her shoulder was oozing blood from wound and running down her arm. The door to the helicarrier closed and it started to take off. The hacker took a seat, panting heavily.

She surveyed her area, Widowmaker was sat looking at nothing in particular and Reaper had quickly approached the Latina, arms folded across his chest. He was angry, she could tell, and she really didn't want to deal with this right now.

“Sombra, what was that?” He asked her in a stern tone. She rolled her eyes.

“I don't know. What was that, Gabe? I thought you were meant to kill the guards, not leave one alive.” She hissed, holding her bloody shoulder with her right hand. Reaper cocked his head back slightly, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is you were in such a rush to get in and out again, you missed one of the guards. He ran off and got a dozen of his friends to come back with him. They found me while I was downloading the files. They all had guns, Gabe, and they out numbered me. I coulda fought but those were not odds I wanted to play with.” She fished the drive out of her pocket and tossed on the floor at the man’s feet, wincing as she did. “At least I got your stupid data.” She hissed.

“You're hurt.” Widowmaker said once everything had gone quiet. It wasn’t a question, she could see the crimson blood oozing through Sombra’s fingers.

The blue woman walked over, taking a seat next to the hacker. She gestures for her to move her hand so she could get a better look at the wound. Sombra complied. She looked around the front and back, looking for the entry and possible exit wounds. Both were found, nestled in large, blood soaked, holes in the Latina’s clothing. At least the bullet wasn't lodged inside her skin. She needed to fill the wound with gauze though, and apply a tight dressing to help stop the bleeding. Thankfully, the rest of the hacker’s arm was a prosthetic anyway so she should have too much problem moving it, provided she didn't move her shoulder too much.

“Gabriel, can you pass me the med kit?” Widow asked, pleasantly surprised when Reaper handed it to her, having already grab it before. “Sombra, ma chéri, you will have to remove you jacket and top. Oui?” Sombra nodded and started to remove her layers carefully, gritting her teeth and wincing every time she had to move her shoulder, even slightly.

Once Sombra was sat in just her bra and leggings, Widowmaker started to dress the wound. She padded the hole with gauze before placing a dressing over the top and bandaging around it tightly. A faint blush dusted her cheeks for reasons unknown to her. For a moment there, she was glad that the hacker had screwed her eyes shut so that she wouldn't notice. Once she had applied the bandage, the French woman wrapped the Latina’s arm in a sling, restricting movement at least while the wounds was just starting to heal. Reaper waiting until Widow was finished tending to the injury before taking off his coat and passing it to Sombra so she could cover up. She thanked him and wrapped it around herself.

“So you're certain everything is on this drive?” Reaper asked the injured woman, taking a seat next to her.

“Yeah, I'm sure. Probably woulda got shot a lot more if I had to wait any longer.” She chuckled through the pain. The wraith nodded.

“In which case the mission was a success and there's no need to worry about being reprimanded. Injuries happen, they can't fault us for that.” He sighed. “I'm sorry, Sombra. If I hadn't of rushed you wouldn't have gotten hurt.” She punched him on the shoulder with her good arm.

“Hey, it’s fine. If I'd been quicker I wouldn't a got hurt.” She gave him a small smile. Widowmaker looked at the two of them, furrowing her brow.

“It was my fault. I should have disposed of the first guards quicker. I doubted myself, hesitated, it will not happen again.” She said, looking at her feet. Sombra leaned on her.

“Nah, not your fault either. It's your first mission since, you know. We should have been more patient.” She grinned. “Anyway, shall we call this thing a team effort and leave it at that?” She laughed despite everything, making the other two smile slightly.

They took the rest of the journey back in silence.

—————————

That night, Sombra was awkwardly getting ready for bed. It was annoying how difficult simple things like getting changed were whilst her arm was in a sling. She sighed, feeling weird with only one arm in her pjs. She carefully laid back on her bed, mulling over the mission, her injury, and wondering if the nanobots she'd stolen during a mission oh so long ago would be of any use in making herself heal faster. They probably should. The hacker closed her eyes, appreciating the dark and the quiet, but then she heard a small knock at her door.

“Come in!” She called, looking to see Widowmaker step in wordlessly. “Hey, what's up hermosa? Nightmares again?” She asked, thinking it was a bit early for that yet, but hey.

“Non, I just wanted the company…” she said, almost shyly. Sombra nodded and made room for the woman in her bed. Widow climbed in gracefully and curled up close to the other woman. “You know… if you liked, you can call me Amélie…” she said quietly. And it was the last thing that Sombra heard before she went to sleep, a small smile spread across her face.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I am so sorry for not updating until now! I kind of got carried away with a few things like looking at moving house and, of course, Overwatch Summer Game... 
> 
> Good news is I go all the skins I wanted, including Widow and Sombra's! May have bought 100 loot boxes though...
> 
> Even better news is this is now where the fan fiction gets very gay. You'll see why.
> 
> I hope it's worth it.

It took two weeks for Sombra’s shoulder to heal enough for her to use it, and that was with the help of her few nanobots. It was nice to have her arm out of the sling, it was even nicer to be able to move more freely. She had the ability to make a sandwich without dropping half the things she was using and just getting angry over it all. She was also able to actually feel comfortable again without her arm constantly in an awkward position as well. All in all she was glad.

Something the hacker had also noticed changing in the past couple of weeks was how close she and Widowmaker had gotten. They were spending a lot more time together, talking for longer, and seeming to be a lot more comfortable in each other’s presences. It was nice but, at the same time, it wasn't doing any favours for the feelings that Sombra had developed for the other woman, none at all. She was finding herself getting flustered more easily, her stomach doing flips for something as little as those green eyes meeting hers. The annoying thing was, she wasn’t just experiencing feelings anymore.

As well as all this emotional crap - stomach flutters and blushes and that pure delight she felt at being around the other woman? No thanks - the hacker had also been noticing that her mind would wander to places she'd rather not think about. She'd find herself sat with the French woman, wanting to hold her hand, wondering what it would be like to kiss her, how she would react if she did. Or she would be working on something for a Talon and she would start contemplating what a relationship with Widow would actually be like, would much change? She assumed they would have to cover it up from the rest of Talon, but to what extent? How would their lives be different? It was all starting to bother her more and more… so much for just a little school girl crush.

The worst part was, despite all of her thoughts and feelings, deep down she knew there was no way that any of it would be reciprocated. The blue woman had just got her own emotion back, she didn't need someone else’s interfering with all the shit that was going on for her right now. She was only just able to mourn her husband for christ’s sake! It was hardly like she'd want to b involved with anyone else. Plus Sombra was all fairly 100% sure that Widowmaker was straight as they come. It was a lot cause so she had no clue why she couldn't just let it go. It would make her life oh so much easier… but then again the Latina had never been one for taking the easy way.

Currently, she was sat in her room, in the dark, working on tracking Katya Volskaya’s every move. She was sipping away at her seventh cup of coffee that day, finding that she hadn't slept as well as she would have liked the night before and, for once, it wasn't a result of Widow waking her in the night. More so the lack of the other woman’s presence. The French woman hadn’t come to her last night, and she hadn't heard her crying out either. It was good, she supposed, but she kind of missed the more and more familiar presence, enough for that alone to disturb her sleep. She sighed to herself, wondering what the hell was wrong with her, and went to take another sip only to find that the mug was empty. Great. Just perfect.

Sombra groaned and placed her mug on the desk. Her eyes fixed on the screens in front of her as she studied her “friend’s” behaviour. Volskaya seemed worried about someone, flighty and on edge, maybe the hacker should pay her a little visit next time she was able? Have a talk about what “act normal” really meant. She didn't want anyone to think that there might be something wrong, now did she? The woman sighed and put her hands over her face, covering her tired eyes which were starting to sting a little from staring at the holoscreens for so long. She needed more coffee… she also needed some sleep. Peeking through her fingers at the screens once more, she decided she should probably work through her caffeine buzz and get some sleep after that.

She closed the screens that were following Volskaya and opened the screens onto some of the other research Talon had set her. Something about the Helix security system. Currently she was just looking into the layout of a prison complex, making note of all possible entrances and exits. She was finding it incredibly dull, if she was honest, but it had to be done all the same. Despite how boring it may have been, she quickly found herself engrossed in it, only looking away when she heard the sensors she'd finally gotten around to installing around her door beeping at her. Someone was outside, and they were waiting.

“Come in!” The hacker called, before the before whoever it was had even knocked. The door slide open, just enough for Widowmaker to slip in. Sombra’s eyes flitted back to her work.

Widow walked silently over to the Latina’s bed, perching on the very edge. She didn't speak for some time, only watching. It vaguely reminded Sombra of how things were when they first started talking properly. She didn't say anything either, though. Instead she simply continued working, marking off anything that could be significant. She heard the springs in the mattress shift slightly, but not enough to signify the other woman standing up. She looked around, seeing that Widow was watching her intently.

“What's up hermosa? Got something you need?” She asked, watching the woman for a moment.

“You look tired. You should rest.” The French woman said, giving no hint of what she was thinking or feeling in her tone.

“Ahhh I'd love to but if I don't get this done, no one will.” She chuckled, turning back to her work.

“You know, that amount of caffeine is also not good for you, ma chéri. It will not do you any favours to keep drinking it.” The French woman sighed and the Latina let out a barking laugh.

“Hah! There are far worse things for me, cariña. Like this job, for example!” She laughed again, picking up the coffee mug that she had forgotten was empty and tipping it back, huffing when nothing came out. Widow simply rolled her eyes. “Look, I'm fine, really,” she insisted the look the blue woman gave her showed that she was obviously having none of it.

“If you were really okay you would take a break.” This time Sombra rolled her eyes.

“You know what? Fine. I'll take a break.” Sombra sighed and stood up, out of the chair, not realising just how stiff she had gotten having been sat there for the past few hours. Especially in her shoulder. She stretched, letting her joints pop and crack as they pleased before shaking herself out.

“Come sit with me…” Widow looked her in the eye and gestured to the spot next to her on the bed. The hacker said nothing, she simply crossed her arms, staying on her feet. She'd only just stood up, no way was she sitting again, especially not just because Widowmaker had asked her to.

The French woman looked at her friend, noting the defiant look in her eyes that appeared once she told her to sit down. Ah. Bad move then? She sighed, looking away. She really wasn't good at all this… the dealing with people or the emotions. Things had been so much easier when she simply didn't feel but, at the end of the day, that was now way to live and the chip in her brain being disabled really opened her eyes to that. Things had been difficult for her so far, yes, but it had only been a few weeks and nothing was expected to be all sunshine and daisies all the way. She was still trying, though, and she thought she was starting to notice a difference.

“Amélie…” Sombra said slowly - testing out the name - noticing a different air around the woman. “Is everything okay?” She asked, almost concerned. The blue woman wasn't normally this quiet around her and hadn't been since she hacked the chip.

“Hmm… I, uh, I wanted to say thank you. For everything you've done for me, for how much you've helped me.” Her eyes locked onto the Latina’s, hearts fluttering as moss green met vibrant purple.

“Really, hermosa, it’s nothing.” It was a nonchalant answer, but there seemed to be a lot that was left unsaid. Things such as ‘we wouldn't even be here if you didn't essentially blackmail me’. Widow huffed, standing up.

“I just…” she started, stepping closer to Sombra and thinking over her words. “There are so many way that you could have deceived me, so many things you would have done instead…” she sighed. “I suppose I'm just… very…” she cupped Sombra’s cheek with her hand, heart fluttering and she gave her a small smile. “Grateful.” She closed the gap between them, leaning in for a kiss.

The moment their lips met in a gentle kiss, Sombra felt her heart pounding at a thousand miles a minute. Her eyes were open wide, searching the other woman’s face who looked surprisingly content. The hacker decided maybe this was, in fact, a good thing and that Widow was just testing her. She decided to deepen the kiss, kissing back and wrapping her arms around the blue woman’s waist. This felt good, and right, and was possibly the purest thing that Sombra had ever had. It was such a shame that it felt like it ended all too soon.

It was actually the Latina who pulled away first as she, for possibly the first time ever, actually doubted herself and the situation. Did Widow really want this? Did she have genuine feelings there? Or was she just clinging on to the closest person at that time in an attempt to make herself feel somewhat whole again. God, Sombra hoped not. Her heart was still pounding and she found herself in a slightly stunned silence.

“Was that okay, ma chéri?” The french woman asked, slightly anxiously.

“Yeah…” the hacker breathed, giving a small nod. “That was… perfect.” Both woman smiled at each other, pressing their foreheads together before mutually leaning in for another kiss.

The rest of the day was spent in each other’s company, talking about feeling and more idle things. Widow trying her hardest to make sure Sombra wasn’t over using her arm and Sombra trying her hardest not to fall asleep mid-conversation. The night couldn't have come soon enough, if she was honest, and her sleep was made so much better by the fact that she got to spend it wrapped up in the other woman’s arms.

For the first time in a long time, both of them were genuinely happy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Now, I'm not actually all that happy with this chapter... I was really looking forward to writing it but it ended up being very difficult to get done...
> 
> Oh well!
> 
> This chapter focuses mostly on Widow and Reaper and less on Sombra like all the others have done so far. Enjoy!

The next morning when Widowmaker awoke, Sombra was no where to be found. She wasn't in her room, she wasn't in the kitchen, she wasn't lazing around in the communal area and she didn't seem to be on the training grounds either. The blue woman got the distinct feeling that she was being completely avoided and, along side that, was another feeling that she was oh too familiar with. The crushing disappointment and the singular thought that she'd done something wrong; the same feeling that Amélie Lacroix would every time that Gérard would choose Overwatch over her.

The woman sighed, deciding that there was no point looking if Sombra didn't want to be found. She would go to the kitchen, get something to drink, and if the hacker decided that she wanted to make herself apparent, then Widow was sure she would already know exactly where she was to find her. But that thought still didn't stop the slight ache in her chest when she thought about the whole thing; thought about how she had messed everything wrong, how she had read into things that weren't there and how, if things were more difficult from here on inwards, she would only have herself to blame.

When Widow got to the kitchen, Reaper was already there, nursing a mug of black coffee. He hadn't been there when she'd checked for Sombra earlier and by the looks of things, he had just woken up. The assassin when and took the seat opposite him, resting her chin on the heel of her palm. She noticed how tired the wraith looked, ordinarily grey-ish skin appearing more washed out than normal, dark circles under exhausted eyes highlighting the red of the pupils. He was smoking slightly, small clouds of black radiating off him, showing that he was particularly unfocused that morning.

“Sleep well, Gabriel?” The blue woman asked, smirking. Her friend rolled his eyes.

“Do you really need to ask that?” He grumbled, taking a big swig of his coffee. Some of the dark liquid leaked out of his cheek hole as many things did. Widowmaker ignored it.

Reaper wiped his cheek as he always did, making the woman wonder for the first time if it was something he was self-conscious about. At the same time, she couldn't imagine him being self-conscious about anything. He seemed way past that. Widow let her eyes fall closed and leant back in her chair with a sigh. The day was still young and yet she was already done with everything. The wraith raised an eyebrow.

“Everything alright?” He asked, voice tinged with concern. The blue woman sighed again.

“I took your advice.” She said simply, eyes fluttering open in time to see the slightly surprised look that flashed across the mercenary’s face. Obviously he wasn't expecting her to have actually listened to him.

“You did?” She nodded and there was silence for a moment, bar the noise of Reaper practically inhaling his drink. “How did it go?” He asked at last.

“We kissed.” Widow said quietly, shifting in her seat slightly.

“And?”

“And? And I think I got it wrong, Gabriel. She's avoiding me, it seems.”

Silence settled over the two again. Widowmaker shook her head, pushed her chair back and when to make herself a drink. She felt the need for a large glass of wine in that moment, but it was still early and, sadly, she knew better. She decided to settle for a strong cup of coffee; it wasn't something that she would normally drink, finding the bitter taste felt wrong on her tongue, by today she was finding she wanted something bitter to go with her bad mood.

With the kettle boiling, the French woman leaned back against the counter, eyes closed and arms folded against her chest. She was frustrated, something which she had not felt in a long time, and didn't know what to do about it. If she could actually find Sombra, have a talk with her, she could probably spin her explanation well enough that it would all seem like little more than a mistake caused by her emotional state. Things would be fine. But the problem was, she could track down the Latina to begin with, let alone actually speak to her about what had happened last night. One thing she didn't understand, though, was why Sombra had accepted her affections so willingly the night before but was now avoiding her like the plague.

“Hey…” Reaper suddenly said, drawing Widow out of her thoughts. “You know, come to think of it, I've not seen Sombra this morning either… isn't she normally on her third cup of coffee by now?” Actually… yeah. That was a thought. Even if the hacker didn't want to be seen, one could be fairly certain that she would be in the kitchen at some point to grab her coffee.

This gave Widowmaker the impression that Sombra was either trying incredibly hard to avoid her, or that wasn't the case at all. There was an unglued thought in the blue woman’s head insisting that it was the former option… but rational thinking told her it was more likely the latter. Sombra had seemed to enjoy the kiss, after all.

The French woman let out a sign of breath that she wasn't aware she'd been holding in, she moved to make her coffee, adding milk and a dash of sugar but making sure it was still strong. She went to take back her seat opposite Reaper. She blew at her drink before taking a small sip, careful not to burn the inside of her mouth on the liquid, before sinking into the seat slightly.

“So I may have overreacted…” she said slowly, not looking the man in the eyes. She heard a low chuckle.

“You're only just getting that now?” Reaper grinned, finishing his drink and going to dump the mug in the sink. He watched the assassin for a minute, not saying a word. The expression on her face gave away nothing, but he could tell that she felt foolish for worrying as much as she did.

The wraith opened one of the cupboards, pulling out a couple of packets of chips, tossing one to Widow and opening the other. He began munching on the contents, watching as the woman picked up her packet and examined it closely. He already knew she wouldn't normally eat something out of a packet, having always preferred freshly made foods instead, but he highly doubted that she'd eaten anything yet today. He got through his packet before she even opened hers.

“You can eat those, you know. They're not going to bite you and they certainly won't poison you.” Reaper chuckled, throwing away his empty pack and going to sit back down. Widowmaker wrinkled her nose but opened the packet, slowly pulling a chip out and nibbling one side of it. She started munching away at the food, not necessarily liking the texture or the slightly greasiness of it but finding the flavour enjoyable.

Reaper watched Widow eat, deciding on letting her finish what she had before getting her have anything else or talking to her too much. She seemed calmer now than she had earlier, less upset and frustrated. Happier to sit and talk to the wraith instead of insisting on searching everywhere for Sombra. It was interesting seeing how the two women’s relationship had developed, even before the assassin had gotten her emotion back, the wraith had noticed them getting close. He wasn't sure why they had began talking so much, but they seemed to get along and, once Widow was feeling again, it didn't surprise Reaper much just how close they had gotten.

“What are you going to say when Sombra reappears?” The Latino man asked, curiously. Comparing Widowmaker to Amélie Lacroix, there were obvious differences on behaviour, reactions and how they showed emotions.

When she was Amélie, Widow had been a very cheerful person who wasn't afraid to give someone (mostly Gérard) a piece of her mind if she felt the need to. She had always come across and calm, serious and sensible on the first few occasions that they had met, but as they got to know each other better at some of Overwatch’s formal functions, she began to relax more and more. That was when her more cheerful side came out. The side that died with Amélie Lacroix.

It had been a bit of a shock when Realer first met the assassin again to see just how different she was without emotion. To be honest, without actually feeling, anyone would be different but in most cases that would never become a reality. She did maintain some of her old self, though, in behaviour and the things she take even a vague interest in. Sometimes she seemed more dead than alive. But things were changing. Widow had her feelings back and, yes, she was much more volatile than she ever had been before but she finally seemed alive again.

She would never again be Amélie Lacroix, the seemingly carefree, charismatic, humorous ballerina. Instead the woman had become somewhat quieter, colder, more sarcastic and blunt. Even now she had less remorse and less empathy but, at the same time, she still cared. She was now kinder, less forceful, she was seeking out the company of others and enjoying herself, even with little things. She wasn't just passing the time until the next mission. She may have been full of pain and self doubt but she seemed a lot more content with who she was.

Widow looked at her hands for a moment, thinking. What would she do? Get angry? Feel relieved that the hacker wasn't avoiding her? Or just accept things for how they were? She wasn't sure. She'd spent so much of the morning worrying, looking, and feeling vaguely hurt that she didn't really know how to deal with that now she'd had time to think and feel better. It had been too long since she had had to deal with emotion and, dear lord, they were hard.

“I am not sure.” She said at last, sighing. “I will have to wait and see what happens.” And that was the only answer she could think to say.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 guys! We've hit a milestone! 
> 
> Now, I'm actually very happy with how this chapter came out - it was very easy to write and I love the little interactions between characters! I'm thinking of doing a few more like this to really develope everyone's relationship before I get on to the next (and final) chunk of plot!
> 
> I'm thinking there will probably be 10 or so more chapters before this finishes so stick with me!
> 
> Get ready for fluff

Three more days went by before Sombra returned. She had taken time out of her oh so busy schedule to pay Ms. Katya Volskaya a visit and have a little talk with her about how shifty her behaviour had been of late. The Russian woman had not been all that happy to see her, no, not at all. But what was she to do? She had to make sure her ‘friend’ didn't give their game away after all. The hacker was all about secrecy and playing the long game after all.

When she got back, the woman was fully planning on heading straight to her room and sleeping off any jet lag which she may experience. Unfortunately things don't always seem to go to plan. She was heading down the hallway on route to her room, eyes focusing on a holoscreen she'd brought up to check for updated on any work she'd been assigned. She didn't realise that Reaper was in front of her until she walked straight into him.

“I see you're back,” the wraith said gruffly, looking at the woman from behind his mask.

Sombra analysed the man for a moment, he seemed tense, annoyed. He was wearing his mask as well, something he never normally did unless he was about to leave or was in a particularly bad mood. From the looks of things, it seemed like the latter. The way he held himself, the way he had spoken to her, the burning gaze she felt on her from behind the mask, it all spoke miles of his current mood.

“What's up, old man? Not happy to see me?” She smirked, putting her hands on her hips. Wrong move. The mercenary folded his arms across his chest, boxing himself out and beginning to smoke angrily. Ok, yeah. He wasn't happy to see her.

Sombra would have actually been somewhat scared if it wasn't for the fact that she knew, by now, that if he lashed out at her it would put him in a worse situation later. That, and the fact that he didn't actually hate her, or want her dead, also helped. She moved her hands off her hips, shoulders slumping slightly, and frowned. Reaper was prone to foul moods but he never normally seemed this pissed off unless there was a reason. Even if, in Sombra’s opinion, that reason was a dumb one. She should probably find out what was going on.

“Okay, not happy to see me. I get it. What's going on, Gabe? I do something wrong?” She asked, noticing that the wraith was smoking slight less now. Good.

“Where have you been?” The wraith said in a low growl, still looking tense and angry. Sombra sighed.

“Look. I don't like talking about this, but…” she dropped her voice into a low whisper, leaning closer her colleague. “There was a family emergency. I didn't say because, when I joined Talon, I told them my whole family was dead. It won't happen again.”

It was a lie, a complete and utter lie. Her family has all died long ago, her father lost to the Omnic Crisis, her mother killed in a Los Muretos mugging. If she had any extended family at all they were either dead or disowned and she never even bothered trying to make friends in the Los Muretos, let alone family-esque connections. Fortunately, though, she knew how to feign sincerity well enough to pass this off and, not only that, but she was also painfully aware of just how little Reaper and Widowmaker really knew about her. Honestly? It was a blessing. She notice some of the tension leave Reaper’s body after her ‘explanation’.

“You know what? I don't care. You had shit to deal with, why should that bother me? But you know who did care? Amélie. She opened up to you, she kissed you, and then you just vanish for, what? Four days? Do you have any idea how worried she was when you first vanished?” The man growled, obviously not really caring what reason the hacker gave him for her absence.

“Shit.” She hissed, running her fingers through her hair. She'd never even thought… fuck. “Where is she? Right now?”

“Training grounds. She-” Reaper didn't have time to finish what he was about to say as Sombra had already tapped into her translocators and teleported away.

When she got to the sniper’s balcony of the training ground, straight away she saw Widowmaker leaning on the edge, resting her gun against the barrier and focusing on her targets. She waiting until the assassin had taken her shot before getting her attention. She walked up behind her, not bothering to try and move silently, and put a hand on the blue woman’s shoulder. Widow flinched slightly, obviously having been too deep in thought to notice her at all.

“Amélie…” she said softly, moving her hand when the woman stood up straight and turned to face her.

“I see you have returned.” The words came out cold, and not in the unfeeling way. She was upset.

“Yeah. I am.” She sighed, moving closer. “Look, hermosa, I am so sorry. Something came up that I needed to sort out and I should have told you I was leaving. I didn't think.”

“Non, ma chérie, you did not.” Her voice was still cold, the hacker bit her lip.

“It wasn't you and it wasn't the kiss. I promise.” She continued, pausing briefly to see if Widow would warm up at all. “The kiss. I… I had wanted to do that for a while but I thought you weren't interested. I'm sorry.”

She cupped the taller woman’s cheek gentle, mimicking Widowmaker’s motions those few nights ago. Slowly, very slowly, she closed the gap between them, pressing their lips together ever so softly. She waiting for a moment, seeing if the French woman would respond at all, only to find a kind of saddens settle over her when she didn't. She pulled away with a sigh, a sad frown setting over her brows and tugging at the corners of her mouth. She stepped back, noticing a sad, uncertain, look on Widow’s face. She really had upset her, hadn't she?

“I'm sorry, I'll go.” She said, turning to leave, barely getting anywhere before she felt a cold hand grab her wrist. Her heart fluttered slightly.

“No. Stay.” Widowmaker was looking at her with big, pleading, green eyes.

Sombra sighed, features softening, and turned back to the blue woman. She wrapped her arms around Widow’s slender waist and pulled her into a tight hug, resting her chin on the assassin’s shoulder. Widowmaker was cold, as always, but the turtleneck and sweatpants she was wearing were soft and nice to nestle in to. She noticed the French woman resting her cheek on the crown of her head whilst wrapping her arms around the hacker almost protectively. It stirred up a kind of happiness deep inside of her.

“I am sorry, hermosa. There were things I had to deal with. I'll remember to tell you if I'm going away next time.” As stronger person as Widow was, her emotional state was fragile right now and it really should have been something Sombra bared in mind. The hacker had already decided that she would help the assassin as much as she could; keep her sane, make her happy, make sure that having emotions again wasn't getting too hard for her to handle. She wanted to be there for Widow, wanted to support her, and right now? She felt like she had failed.

Now, Sombra would be the first person to admit that, outside of blackmailing, controlling and manipulating people, she didn't really know how to get on with others. She had done fine all this time, yes, but that had simply been an act. She would act how she felt people wanted her to but all the while be calculating how best to twist whatever scenario in her favour. This was the first time in a very long time she was feeling anything genuine of sincere and, quite frankly, she did not know how to work around that. But she would try. Yeah, she would try.

When the two women pulled out of the hug, there was an overall sense of calm and contentment between them. The air had been cleared and negative feeling had been dealt with. It was great, they were actually acting reasonable adult rather than sly, manipulative, hacker and the cold, ruthless, assassin that they knew they were. They worked for a terrorist organisation, killing people and ruining lives for a living; logic and reasoning weren't always thing that came into the equation. They'd both disposed of people for less than this before so it was nice that this whole thing had been resolved so easily.

“Hey! I just remembered!” Sombra suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “you know those films I love? The really old horror films that are so bad they're good?” She paused for a moment, waiting for Widow to respond, grinning when the woman nodded. “Well, I downloaded a load when I was gone! Most of them are, like, almost a century old too! Wanna watch some with me?”

Widow chuckled, loving the hacker’s enthusiasm. She'd seen her watching old horror movies before, not really understanding their appeal. So many of them looked so bad that she couldn't understand why they would ever be scary, even the more recent ones. The assassin also preferred preferred films that would make one think, that would play with one’s head until the end. Sometimes she would watch horror for the psychological aspect but she was fully those were not the kind of films Sombra was talking about. She may as well give them a chance though, if it made the Latina happy.

“Pirating films, ma chéri?” She asked, smiling. This was as close to a yes as she felt like getting. Sombra rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Please. I am one of the world’s most notorious hackers. I work for a terrorist organisation! I think I'm allowed to pirate films!” She laughed, heading over to her translocator. She saw the French woman heading to the door and frowned. “Where do you think you're going?”

“Inside?” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hersoma, I have a translocator! It's faster, come on.” Widow nodded, following her and saying nothing else.

————————

The films was… terrible. In fact, it wasn't just terrible, it was so bad it was laughable. Sombra was practically in tears before they were even half way through, Widow sat gazing at the screen with one eyebrow slightly raised at all times. The movie they were watching was about an alien substance that two bright sparks tasted and decided to market as some new form of ice-cream called “The Stuff” and it was quickly becoming more and more apparent that this was not something they should have done as every who ate “The Stuff” appeared to be turning into some kind of mindless, possessed, ice-cream fuelled, zombies. The plot was entertaining, yes, but it was also pretty dumb.

At some point during the film, Reaper had materialised on one of the sofa, appearing to be in a much better mood than earlier. He also seemed to enjoy the film more than the assassin as well but, honestly, she was finding more enjoyment in in watching how he and Sombra reacted. There was no need for conversation as they found themselves watching more and more of these terrible films, only laughter and the occasional sarcastic comment. At one point the film was paused and popcorn was fetched. At one point they all ended up sat on the same sofa, the hacker flicking popcorn at the wraith until he took the bowl off of her. At some point, Sombra felt something she thought she'd never feel again - a sense of family. And, if she had asked the two either side of her at some point? They would have agreed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, I am so sorry! I could give so many excuses to why I've not uploaded but I've had this chapter written up a while now...
> 
> I've just been having a bit of a rough time mentally and physically and lost all motivation and focus to write... I should be back though now.
> 
> We're starting to get onto the last chunk of this story now though :0 b prepared

After that, movie night became a weekly thing. Sombra would take some time out of her work every week to find three or four films that they could all watch together. Sometimes they were genuinely good but, mostly, they were exceptionally bad or just rather weird. Occasionally, she would purposefully seek out films that Widow would actually like, seeing as how they were normally to the hacker’s taste and Reaper would agree to watch anything. She loved the look of pleasant surprise that overcame the blue woman’s face and, even more so, loved the small kisses she would get as a sign of gratitude.

Tonight was one of those nights when the hacker just wanted to make the French woman smile. It had been almost two months since they had first confessed - if that were the right word - their feelings for one another, and a month exactly since they had started acting as though they were actually a couple. It was difficult, trying to date someone whilst working for Talon, but somehow they managed - whether it be making sure they had the right food to cook something different for a dinner date, or the two of them cuddling up in Sombra’s room, watching new release films on her screens, or even just curling up together, enjoying music and books without even speaking, they made it work. Sometimes it felt like the only good and pure thing in either of their lives, and that just made it all the better.

Another reason why Sombra wanted to make her girlfriend smile so badly was she had noticed just how little Widow had been sleeping recently. Now, here's the thing, the nightmares had never gone away but they'd seemed to lessen if she didn’t have to sleep alone and the room wasn't completely dark. However, more recently, they seemed to be disturbing the blue woman’s sleep even when things were put in place to make it easier. No one was quite sure what had triggered this, but it was something they'd all come to accept, although it often mean that either Sombra or Reaper would be up most the night, reassuring Widow that she was safe and no one would hurt her. It was tiring, but in the end it was worth it.

Sombra had been the one waking up with Widow for the past week, holding her close and trying to keep her calm when she awoke from her nightmares screaming and panicking. There were times when she wondered if hacking the chip had been the right thing to do… but those thought dissipated come the morning when she would see just how much more comfortable and relaxed the French woman had become. She seemed to know herself far better now than she ever did before.

Either way, the hacker had spent most of the day sleeping having had some real peace and quiet, as well as the whole floor to herself, since the wraith and the assassin had been sent out on a mission that required more straight-up murder than stealth and planning. She'd found it strange at first, them heading out and her not following, but quite quickly embrace the solitude, taking her chance to sleep as much as she wanted whilst she could go undisturbed. She got through nearly the whole day before naturally waking up, realising it was movie night, and frantically searching for a new film watch, eventually settling on one she knew Widow would love.

Sombra now sat in the communal lounge, waiting for her colleagues to return from the mission; it had been an assassination, there was a man who had ‘escaped Talon’ and was not threatening to spill their secrets. He was someone Sombra was worked with before and had found all too easy to manipulate. She knew he wouldn't really know anything, but a Talon weren't the type to take chances. She had heard the mission brief when Reaper and Widow had first received it and she knew full well what it would entail; find him, prevent any an all escape (normally a bullet to the leg helped, thanks Widow), interrogate him (Reaper’s job), and kill him once they had the information, leave without a trace. There was no doubt in her mind that they would leave his remains in plain view as a message as well, no doubt at all.

The hacker played with some of the holoscreens she'd brought up, looking for any communications logs that might say when her friends would be back. She was bored and had nothing to do, the television screen was blaring out some dumb telenovela that she really took no interest in, they were more Reaper’s kind of thing, and she felt way to lazy to actually be productive. Especially since she'd never even gotten out of her pyjamas. She looked a mess but, hey, she was allowed to, she'd earned it.

It was then that she headed the sound of doors closing towards the entrance of the floor. She lifted her head up towards the noise and cocked an eyebrow. Were they back? She then headed footsteps down the hall that were accompanied by a pair of voiced. Yeah, they were back. The hacker turned around to look at the TV screen, faking engrossment and trying her hardest to not look like she'd been waiting for their return. The noise died down, and the hacker continued starting at the screen, only half paying attention.

Suddenly, with absolutely no warning, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her should and someone kiss her on the cheek. She smiled, leaning back and letting Widow rest her chin on her crown. The Latina glances sideways, seeing the wraith stood a couple of feet behind them, still fully armoured but not looking as tense as he sometimes was after coming back from a mission, it must have gone well.

“Nice to see you too, hermosa,” Sombra chuckled, pulling one of the blue hands up to her mouth so she could kiss it, “good mission?” It was Reaper who replied.

“It went as well as it could have done. We got everything we needed and left a nice little reminder to those thinking of selling out Talon.” He said nonchalantly. Occasionally it struck Sombra just how casually they spoke about murder but then… why was she surprised?

“Right. Well, I've sorted out a film seeing as how it's movie night and all. If you guys want to put something comfy on then I'll go get popcorn. No way I'm sitting next to your armoured ass, Gabe.”

Widow laughed, light and airy, Reaper grunted, folding his arms and left. Sombra didn't need to look to tell that the wraith had left the room, no, she could hear the creaking of his leather and the thudding of his boots loudly enough. For once he didn't bother to smoke away. The assassin kissed the top of the hacker's head before also going to find something more comfortable to wear. Her touch lingering on the Latina’s shoulder before she left.

Sombra smiled to herself, climbing off the sofa to get get the popcorn, setting up the film once she was back. She'd already gotten herself completely comfortable, the film waiting to play and the snacks in her lap, by the time her colleagues returned and took their usual seats. Widow settled in her place, tucking her legs underneath herself and resting her head on the hacker’s shoulder, hand dipping into the popcorn bowl. Reaper sat slumped back, spreading himself out as much as he possible could on the smallish sofa. Sombra waited for everyone so stop moving before she turned the film on, almost excited to see the blue woman’s reaction.

It actually took the French woman a few minutes to realise what the film they were watching actually was. She was flattered, in a way, that Sombra had remembered her talking about it. At the same time, however, a deep sadness settled in her chest; one that she had been feeling more and more of late. She felt a hint of tears stinging the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment as the memories of the first time that she watched this film resurfaced from deep within. Memories that she wished she could forget.

With every passing scene she would remember the little comments that Gérard Lacroix would whisper oh so quietly to her so as not to disturb the other patrons. She would remember the way he would make her laugh, covering her mouth with her hand to minimise the noise. She remembered the way he ran his fingers softly up and down her forearm and the way that she leaned in to his touch. The smile that broke across his handsome face when he saw the simple joy on hers. And as the film reached its climactic scene, she closed her eyes and remembered the hundreds of little kisses he peppered her lips with as he took her home. It was then that she started to cry.

Sombra noticed how quiet and, quite frankly, sad Widow had gotten throughout the duration of the film and the only way that she could think to counter it was to curl up closer to the blue woman and entwine their fingers. She could tell it wasn't really helping but she did it anyway, not sure what else she could do. Maybe this film was a bad idea. She decided should bring it up with the assassin later once they were alone. She wouldn't have had chance immediately after the film anyway, as Widow vanished off to her room almost immediately. She didn't see her until later that night.

Widowmaker had, in fact, sealed herself in her own room; for once taking some kind of comfort in the solitude. She paste back-and-forth, running her fingers over whatever surface happen to be beneath them. Her eyes kept flitting over to the electronic calendar that rested on her wall, frowning every time she looked at it. She didn't like how close the date was getting. She didn't like the heavy feeling it left in her chest. Maybe it was time? Time to ask the question that had been buzzing around her head for so long now. Maybe it would help.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a kudos if you enjoyed and a comment if you would be so kind!


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